I've Been Missing You
by xxxfordummies
Summary: Eren and Armin are having a sleepover and Eren starts a tickle fight.


Sleepovers were a common thing for Eren and Armin. Not anything big just hanging out with each other and sleeping. The two sixteen year olds had been friends for years, sleepovers were nothing new. However, tonight was a little bit different than the previous sleepovers they had had with each other. It was the first time they had been able to see each other in nearly a month. Armin had been away traveling with his mother and Eren had been left at home alone, while his friend traveled the vast continent of Asia and explored different cultures and traditions.

Sure they had talked on the phone and Armin had sent Eren postcards from the various places he had visited, but there was something missing in those interactions. Soon enough they realized that the thing that they were missing was simply being in each other's company. So they had planned that as soon as Armin got home they would have a big sleepover at Eren's house and they would watch movies and Armin could tell Eren about all the cool places he saw.

Now Armin was back and the two boys were sitting in Eren's living room watching old Star Trek movies on Netflix and chattering on about everything and nothing at all. Honestly the boys weren't even watching the television anymore. They could hardly tear their eyes from each other's faces and stop talking long enough to pay attention to the movie.

Sounds of yelling and uncontrollable giggling could be heard throughout the house, but neither of them cared because they were with each other and in that moment that is all that mattered to them.

Eren caught his breath, trying to stop himself from giggling at Armin's story for just a bit, long enough to get these few words out, "I missed you."

A silence settled over them, the sincerity of the words hitting Armin like a pile of bricks. Usually he was the one to say sincere things like that, but hearing Eren say those three words was surprising to say the least and Armin had no idea how to respond.

Armin cleared hit throat, slightly uncomfortable with the situation as a whole. He didn't know what to say, he settled with a simple, "Okay." But the awkwardness wasn't diffused, no quite the opposite in fact. The awkwardness was tangible and settled in the space between them. Neither knew what to say or how to act. They both just turned to look back at the television, hoping that the tension would diffuse itself.

Soon enough it did. They went back to talking and joking around as they normally would, but it felt forced. Neither of them knew what to do to fix it. Here they were hanging around each other for the first time in nearly a month and they couldn't even act normal.

On a whim, Eren turned to Armin and lurched onto him, his fingers tickling his sides forcefully. Knowing Armin was ticklish, he continued moving his fingers. Along his sides and under his armpits, all of Armin's sensitive spots. The blond boy kick his legs in a meek attempt to get his attacker off of him.

"Get off!" he breathed in between giggles.

Eren replied in an overly dramatic tone, "Never!"

Wheezing Armin replied, "Please! I'll do anything!"

This statement caught Eren off guard, but he smiled slightly and continued tickling the smaller boy, replying with, "Anything? Do you really mean that? You'll do anything I ask?"

Armin, who wasn't in the best position to be turning down any offers of freedom from Eren's ruthless tickling, yelled, "Yes! Yes! I'll do anything just stop tickling me for God's sake!"

Grinning deviously Eren pulled his hands off of the other boy and clasped them together in his lap. He hummed audibly and said in a mocking tone, "What should I make you do? You said yourself you would do anything. This is a great opportunity on my part, think of the blackmail possibilities, think of th-"

And then Eren is being pushed back by Armin this time, tickling him in return. Caught of guard, Eren bursts into high pitched fits of laughter and screams of, "No fair!"

Armin grinned down on his friend, saying mockingly, "Not so fun is it, Eren?"

Eren frowned, despite the laughs leaking out of his mouth with each movement of Armin's hands. Pushing Armin off of him he yelled, "Alright! Truce! Truce!"

The blonde boy looked at his friend warily, as if he may attack him again any minute now, but Eren taking note of the face said, "Don't worry, I won't tickle you again."

A slight smile present on his face as he nodded at his flushed friend who was trying to recover from the intense tickle fight. He turned back to the television that had long been forgotten, but didn't find much interest in watching anymore. His thoughts were preoccupied with Eren and everything that had just happened, from the "I missed you" to the tickle fight, something seemed off.

Turning to Eren who was sitting next to him on the couch, he quietly asked, "What were you going to ask me to do?"

Intelligently, Eren said, "Huh?"

Armin clarified, "When I said I would do anything for you to stop tickling me, what were you gonna ask me to do?"

Instantly a blush spread across Eren's cheeks, defensively he said, "It was nothing..."

"Ah c'mon!" Armin whined, taking note of the blush that was spreading across his cheeks and down his neck, he added, "You're blushing! It has to be something!"

Eren turned his head away from his friend to hide the blush and muttered, "It's embarrassing, I can't tell you."

The blond haired boy moved closer to Eren and put his hand on his shoulder, "You're my best friend, you can tell me anything."

Shaking his head slightly, Eren said, "No I can't tell you, you'll judge me."

Armin was beginning to get worried, "Ah Eren, how bad could it be? I won't judge you. Come on just tell me, will ya?

Eren, still looking away from Armin reluctantly said, "Fine but promise to not think I'm strange for saying this"

Rolling his eyes, Armin said, "Yeah, sure, I promise."

Looking down at his hands that were resting in his lap, he muttered, "I was going to ask you to kiss me."

A gasp escaped Armin's lips but he quickly brought his hand up to his mouth, as if covering it would allow him to it back. From the look on Eren's face, however, he could see that the damage was done. Eren probably thought he hated him now. Thinking to himself, Armin furiously tried to come up with a plan to make things better, to show Eren that he didn't hate him.

Then it hit him. The perfect plan to show Eren how he truly felt.

He leaned forward, unsure of just what he was doing and grasped the sides of Eren's face, forcing him to look at him. Leaning in even further, Armin touched his lips to Eren's lightly, just enough to get the point across, then he pulled back. Looking at the shocked expression on Eren's face, he smiled and cast his eyes downward, a blush now present on his cheeks as well.

Then he looked back up to Eren, locking eyes with him and said, "I missed you too."


End file.
